As a sales development representative (SDR), booking meetings is the lifeblood of your success. Without securing those critical conversations with qualified prospects, your sales team grinds to a halt. But with notoriously low response rates to cold outreach, how can you consistently book more meetings? The key is implementing proven SDR strategies that set you apart.
How to Book More Meetings as an SDR: 18 Strategies That Get Results
Making meeting bookings your top priority requires focus. Rather than sending generic, templated sales emails to as many leads as possible, focus on sales tactics that spark genuine prospect interest. While no magic formula guarantees meetings, SDRs who thoughtfully fine-tune their outreach reap big rewards.
Explore 18 strategies to help you schedule more calls and demos in your sales outreach.
Make it Personal
Generic outreach efforts are easy to ignore. Stand out by personalizing every email, call, and research prospects beforehand to incorporate relevant details. Mention their role, company, industry concerns, and interests.
For example, “I noticed on LinkedIn that you just joined Acme Co last month. Making a transition to a new company can be challenging. That’s why I wanted to reach out. Our service could help you make an immediate impact in your new sales role by enabling you to connect with 50% more prospects.”
Do Your Research
It’s impossible to personalize outreach if you know nothing about prospects. Thoroughly research target companies and specific decision-makers before reaching out. Identify their pain points so you can explain how your product or service alleviates those challenges.
For instance, if social media is weak, you could say: “Our platform’s intuitive video creation tools help teams quickly make compelling social videos that grab attention. With eye-catching videos promoting your service, social media engagement could increase 30% in just three months.”
Identify Relevant Prospects
Rather than blasting every lead, carefully evaluate first. Focus on prospects currently experiencing the problems you solve or showing signs they may be shopping for a solution. These hot leads are more likely to take a meeting.
UpLead uses advanced analytics to detect when accounts are in research mode so you can capitalize at the perfect moment. Our B2B sales acceleration platform empowers SDRs to identify and engage hot prospects.
Perfect the Pitch
Nailing your core value proposition is crucial for booking more meetings. Whether you operate in inside or outside sales, it’s important to refine a concise elevator pitch that clearly explains how you help prospects achieve goals in seconds. Save longer explanations for a scheduled call rather than a cold call.
For example, “Hi Joan, this is John from UpLead. We’re an AI sales acceleration platform that helps teams book 70% more meetings with less effort. Would next Tuesday at 2 pm work for a 15-minute intro call to see if we’re a potential fit for Acme’s needs?”
Practice your pitch constantly so it sounds natural versus robotic. Time it to hit critical points fast while remaining conversational and casual.
Get to the Point
Prospects are incredibly busy. Don’t make them read multiple paragraphs to understand why you reached out. Clearly state your purpose and proposed action upfront.
Bad email subject line: “Checking in on some ideas.”
Good subject line: “Book a demo of [tool/platform] to increase sales.”
Email body:
“Hi Tim, I wanted to quickly introduce myself. I’m John from UpLead. We make AI sales automation tools designed to help companies like yours book more qualified meetings.
I’d love to schedule a quick 15-minute intro call to explore if our platform could be an excellent fit to help your sales team prospect more efficiently. Are you free this Thursday at 10 am or Friday at 2 pm?”
Always Follow Up
One email or call is rarely enough. Be politely persistent in following up. Studies show it takes an average of eight touchpoints to generate a prospect meeting.
Use a varied sales sequence combining multiple email check-ins, cold calling, and LinkedIn messages. Change up your approach and offer new value with each outreach.
The key is avoiding sounding like a mass, templated reach out. Make each connection feel like a thoughtful human reaching out to help. This personalized tenacity pays off by turning cold call contacts into warm leads booking meetings.
Offer Irresistible Value
Prospects love free, valuable resources. Offer them guides, free trials, or consultations to entice engagement.
For example, tell them: “I’d love to share our latest guide on ‘How to Increase Lead Conversion Rates by 200%.’ Just let me know where to send it.”
This content demonstrates your expertise while encouraging prospects to reply and build relationships.
Leverage Multiple Channels
Emails and calls alone rarely cut through today. Engage prospects across their preferred contact methods, including social media platform outreach, texting, direct mail, and in-person drop-ins.
Executing a multi-channel approach pays off by giving you more ways to grab attention.
Utilize Video Prospecting
Short, personalized videos stand out in crowded inboxes. Record yourself on camera addressing prospects by name. Explain that you noticed an upcoming anniversary and want to learn about their expansion plans and goals.
The human touch of video builds connection, so even prospects ignoring other outreach watch and respond. Getting creative with providing value via content, leveraging various sales techniques, and embracing video enables SDRs to catch the attention of busy prospects and spur meetings.
Sell on Social
Social selling is about providing value, not promotion. Engage by liking and commenting on prospects’ updates. Share relevant articles. Casually transition conversations from social platforms into scheduled meetings.
Invest in the Right Tools
Sales acceleration software like UpLead equips lead generation specialists to identify hot prospects and execute effective campaigns driving meetings. Automation with list building tools handles tedious tasks so you can focus on relationship-building activities, paving the way to booked calls.
UpLead’s email sequencing, analytics, and SDR prospecting tools empower SDRs to land more qualified meetings faster. Let’s connect to explore how we can accelerate your sales workflow and ultimately enhance customer retention.
B2B software companies use UpLead to identify hot prospects by tracking companies actively seeking CRM solutions or those showing signs of needing an upgrade. UpLead’s list-building tools enable the company to automatically compile a list of such businesses, including key contacts, their roles, and recent activities indicative of their interest in CRM systems.
Using this information, these companies’ sales team personalizes their outreach, addressing specific pain points each prospect might be experiencing with their current CRM system. This targeted approach, empowered by the right sales acceleration tools, leads to a higher rate of engagement and more scheduled meetings with potential clients.
Use Testimonials & Proof
Social proof builds trust, so prospects say yes to meetings quickly. Gather positive reviews from current customers speaking to your product/service benefits. Feature them prominently on your site and in outreach.
A prime example of this is Peloton, a company that revolutionized home fitness with its interactive exercise equipment and online workout classes. Peloton’s strategy of leveraging high-profile endorsements elevated their brand trust significantly. They secured endorsements from respected names like Good Housekeeping, Forbes, and Best Health, showcasing these on their platforms to create a buzz around their innovative products.
Emulating Peloton’s approach, gather positive reviews and testimonials from your current customers, especially those that speak specifically to the benefits of your product or service. Display these testimonials prominently on your website and in your outreach materials. Just as Peloton’s endorsements by well-known publications added a layer of credibility, your customer testimonials can serve a similar purpose.
Network In Person
Attending in-person industry events provides opportunities to start relationships that lead to booked meetings. Collect business cards at conferences, trade shows, and local business functions.
Follow up consistently post-event to convert these new connections into scheduled calls. Mention meeting them as a warm intro before asking for a sales conversation.
Share Success Stories
Turn excellent customer examples into case studies. Detail their challenges, how you solved problems, and impressive outcome stats.
For example, take inspiration from HubSpot, a leader in inbound marketing and sales software. HubSpot’s data shows compelling outcomes from using their integrated platforms:
- Marketing, Service, and Sales Hub users closed 75% more deals than those using only the Sales Hub.
- Combining CMS and Marketing Hub led to an addition of an average of 122% more contacts than using the Marketing Hub alone.
Such statistics validate HubSpot’s effectiveness and serve as a powerful selling point. Similarly, sharing success stories in your outreach can significantly influence prospects.
Offer a Free Trial
Offering a free trial is a powerful way to reduce the perceived risk for prospects, making them more likely to agree to meetings. It’s not just about explaining the features of your product but allowing prospects to experience its value firsthand.
For example, Groove HQ, a company in the support software industry, implemented a successful strategy to drive free trials through email onboarding of their blog subscribers. They reported that 10% of their blog subscribers started a free trial, demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach.
Incorporating this strategy into your sales approach, you might say, “We’d like to offer you a hands-on experience with our reporting dashboard. How about a free 14-day trial to see how our tools can directly benefit your sales workflow?”
Getting face time at live events, promoting customer wins, and offering free access helps sales teams, including BDRs, provide value that motivates prospects to invest time in sales conversations.
Host Demos
Don’t just wait for inbound demo requests. Proactively reach out, offering personalized product walkthroughs showcasing solutions tailored to prospects’ needs. Eliminate back-and-forth friction by sending calendar booking links, so scheduling meetings is one click.
For example, “I’d love to show you how our integration with Salesforce could enhance your workflow. Below is a meeting link to choose a 30-minute demo time that works for you.”
Persistent Over Pushy
Successfully balancing persistence with respect takes finesse. Conducting follow ups frequently and change approaches, but listen to uninterested prospects and politely move on.
The key is avoiding overly aggressive hounding in your sales prospecting. Convey helpfulness versus pressure. Your genuine aim to add value shines through.
Don’t Count Out Referrals
Happy current customers are some of your best salespeople, and Dropbox’s phenomenal growth story is a testament to the power of customer referrals. Dropbox achieved a staggering 3900% user growth in 15 months, partly due to its legendary referral program. This program was a massive success because it offered:
- An extended version of the product as a reward.
- Integration as part of the onboarding process.
- Clear visibility of the benefits to users.
- An incredibly easy way for users to invite their friends.
- Constant updates on referral status.
Incorporate this approach into your sales strategy. When asking satisfied clients for referrals, remind them of the tangible benefits they could provide to their contacts, much like how Dropbox incentivized its users. Coming in with a referral gives you instant credibility, and prospects are more likely to grant meetings as a favor to colleagues who have endorsed you. Just as Dropbox made it easy and rewarding for their users to refer others, ensure that your referral process is straightforward and beneficial for both the referrer and the referred.
FAQs About How to Book More Meetings as an SDR
Booking sales meetings with qualified prospects is an SDR’s primary role. But how many is enough? Let’s explore common questions.
The standard goal is 15 new meetings per month, depending on experience level.
Aim for at least 30-45 outbound calls daily for meaningful prospect conversations.
While not directly responsible for revenue, good SDRs pass abundant sales opportunities to closers, impacting revenue dramatically. SDR teams can be accountable for about 30-45% of new business revenue.
What You Need to Remember About Booking Meetings as an SDR
The key takeaways around maximizing meetings booked as an SDR include:
- Personalize outreach while balancing persistence and respect
- Provide value via resources to build relationships
- Leverage multiple prospect contact channels
- Use tools like UpLead to accelerate the entire workflow
Booking that first sales conversation is an art. However, mastering strategies like those above propels SDR and SDR managers to success.
